Non-volatile electronic memory devices are used in a wide variety of consumer goods. Available in mechanically-addressed forms and electrically-addressed forms, non-volatile or static memory devices generally rely on one or more properties of a material that can be altered by application of electrical energy, but will not change unless such energy is applied. Examples of mechanically-addressed static memory systems include magnetic tape drives, hard disk drives and optical drives. Examples of electrically-addressed devices in wide use today include flash memory devices, SRAM, as well as older forms of read-only memory.
Resistive memory is a developing form of electrically-addressed static memory. A material having variable resistance is disposed between two conductive materials. When a voltage is applied across the variable resistance material, the internal structure of the material changes permanently, resulting in a change to the electrical properties of the material, specifically its resistivity. This change in resistivity may be detected and treated as stored information.
Adhesion of the various components of a resistive memory device is a challenge that must be overcome to manufacture devices that are reliable under temperature and load cycling conditions. Some materials that may be attractive for reasons of electrical performance do not adhere well when assembled in a device.
Thus, there remains a need for methods and apparatus for forming reliable, durable memory devices.